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School bus strike possible in NYC; 150,000 students may be affected

Thousands of local students could be stranded and looking for a new way to get to school.

A school bus strike would affect more than 150,000 students and was triggered by concern over job security.

City officials say they want to bid out multi-year contracts on bus routes but the union says that could cost their members jobs.

The possible strike is over the Department of Educations request for bids on 1,100 bus routes that serve more than 22,000 special needs students in Kindergarten through 12th grade. It’s important to note that the union says there is no deadline for a possible strike but the current contracts on the routes expire June 30th.

The city says it is trying to reduce the cost of transportation and put that money into classrooms where it belongs, the union for the drivers says it does not want to jeopardize student safety and doesn’t want a strike but they do want job security.

In case of a New York City school bus strike, here are some things parents can do to get their kids to school:

MetroCards will be available at schools, and parents with students in K-2 may request additional MetroCard to escort children

Parents with students in K-6 with no public transportation may get reimbursed for taxi or car service

Parents who drive students to school will be reimbursed 55 cents per mile

And students who arrive late will be excused for up to two hours while students unable to attend will be marked absent with an explanation code.

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